Search - Vulgar Boatmen :: Wide Awake

Classic Vulgar Boatmen, Some remastered, some suprises

08/18/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wide Awake: The Vulgar Boatmen's New CD Release
By Rick Wilkerson

If you've been looking - and not finding - CD's by The Vulgar Boatmen, there's good news for you. Wide Awake, primarily a compilation of their first three albums, is due out August 12.The Vulgar Boatmen are one of the city's hidden gems. Hidden is what happens to even the best bands here; we're just not a hotbed for Next Big Things. What we do have, though, is some amazing talent and The Vulgar Boatmen are just one example, and a long-running one at that.Most people will be stunned to know that they've been around, in some form, since 1981. That's 22 years by my count. The Vulgar Boatmen's story is one of the most convoluted and strange biographies I've ever encountered in music. Here is the short version: The group was created in 1981 by five University of Florida art students, including Walter Salas-Humara, later of The Silos. The following year, Robert Ray, a University of Florida professor, joined. Salas-Humara left and Ray began collaborating long-distance with Dale Lawrence, whom he'd met at Indiana University years before. Lawrence, known for his involvement in the later, power-pop version of The Gizmos, was then fronting a band called Right To Left. He changed his band's name to The Vulgar Boatmen and they became the primary performing unit, while the Florida band went into the studio.In 1989, the Boatmen released their first LP, You and Your Sister. Lawrence appeared on several cuts, with Ray fronting much of the LP. But in the Midwest and beyond, as The Vulgar Boatmen of Indianapolis began touring, this WAS the band, and the fact that the recording didn't sound quite like the Indianapolis unit was confusing. Despite that, it was a great record and well received by critics nationally. In 1992, under similar circumstances, the band released a second LP, Please Panic. In the backwash of REM and the jangle-rock movement of the time, it looked like the Vulgar Boatmen were going places.Instead, they somehow missed their date with fame. A third album, Opposite Sex, was released by Warner Brothers, but peculiarly, only in Germany and was just briefly available as an import here. The Florida unit essentially faded away, though Lawrence and Ray continued to work together on compositions.Meanwhile, Lawrence and his cohorts have soldiered on, playing live regularly. Their signature hypnotic power-pop has worn well over the years. Last year, in conjunction with fellow Indiana outfit (and major label refugee) The Mysteries of Life, Lawrence helped start a new label, No Nostalgia, which will issue the retrospective Wide Awake on August 12.The CD includes 21 cuts, three of which are heretofore unreleased and three are remixed. Otherwise, it hits the high spots of the earlier releases. This music is quite simply as timeless as Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly or Johnny Cash. The Boatmen have made an art form out of subtle simplicity, even while the compositions are not so simple. The appearance of this CD is so incredibly overdue; I urge everyone to go out next week and get a copy. It should be required listening for anyone who lives here."

Wait - Where's the Goateed Tattooed Fop?

Patrick L. Sullivan | Torrington, CT United States | 08/22/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is rock & roll guaranteed to clear the room of all the irritating people. Nobody who has "issues" will be able to stand an honest record like this. And every finger-flailing nitwit lead guitarist in Christendom should be strapped into a chair Clockwork Orange-style and forced to listen to the interplay between the guitars in this group."

"Wide Awake" in America

Brian D. Rubendall | Oakton, VA | 08/19/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Just when it appeared that The Vulgar Boatmen, perhaps the most criminally underappreciated American rock band of their generation, were about to fade away into oblivion, a little company named No Nostalgia records has rescued their recorded legacy from the dustbin. The compilation ablum "Wide Awake" is the label's first effort, and will soon be followed by long overdure re-releases of the band's original three studio albums, including the currently out-of-print gems, "Please Panic" (1992) and "Opposite Sex" (1995).Containing 21 songs and 75 minutes of music, "Wide Awake" is a truly comprehensive collection of music spanning all three previous albums. Most of the band's best songs are included in their original versions. There are also a handful of remixes, one live recording, one previously unreleased song and an absolutely fantastic accoustic version of "Mary Jane," the first song on their 1989 debut, "You and Your Sister." The album is similar in format to Uncle Tupelo's recent anthology, and I'd stack the Vulgar Boatmen's music up against Farrar, Tweedy and company anyday in terms of quality and uniqueness.My sources tell me that the band is back together and touring the Midwest again. Hopefully, they'll head back into the studio soon as well. If you've never heard the Vulgar Boatmen's music, "Wide Awake" is a terrific place to start."